


You Complete Me

by hquinzelle



Series: It's All About You [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, WinterShock - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-21
Updated: 2016-03-10
Packaged: 2018-03-08 11:17:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3207248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hquinzelle/pseuds/hquinzelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to Watching for You and Finding You - these stories, at least Finding You, should be read first.  Last part of the It's All About You series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy has recovered from her gunshot wound and Tony decides to throw a party in her honor.

Darcy Lewis put the finishing touches on her makeup, then stood and smoothed down the front of her dark blue cocktail dress.

“Ouch,” she said as her shoulder ached where she had been shot, wincing. The sling she’d worn for the last few months had just been removed by the doctor that morning, and she was still trying to get used to having full mobility in both arms.

“Shit,” she said as she looked at the clock, “I’m late.”

She grabbed her clutch – slowly this time - and rushed out the door. Tony Stark was throwing an impromptu, small (in his words, which probably meant over one hundred people) bash celebrating her recovery, and she couldn’t be late for her own party.

If she was late, it would be because she had spent an inordinate amount of time making sure she looked her best, all because Steve had said that Bucky Barnes might show up at the party. Bucky had been MIA since they had been rescued from Baron von Strucker by the Avengers, and she missed him terribly.

Steve had told her that Bucky had spent several weeks in the hospital recovering from his injuries and undergoing various physical and psychological tests to determine what Hydra had done to him. The good news was that there had been no signs so far of permanent brain damage from the frequent brainwashing and cryogenic freezes he had been subjected to, presumably due to the weak form of super soldier serum that had been found in his blood. The bad news, however, was that after he had been released from the hospital Bucky had cut himself off from the world as he struggled to cope with his slowly re-emerging memories.

Some of the higher-ups in what remained of S.H.I.E.L.D were calling for him to be interrogated, and possibly imprisoned for his crimes; so far, however, Steve had managed to hold them off, outright pretending he had no knowledge of Bucky’s current whereabouts.

If she didn’t see him soon, she was going to track his ass down and give him a piece of her mind – she was trying to be patient, but patience was not a virtue she possessed. She just wanted to know that he was okay, to see it for herself.

She sighed as she stepped into the elevator, nodding distractedly at the man who was already there.

“Hey, Clint.”

She pulled out her cell phone and checked to see if she had any calls or text messages from Steve, but there was nothing. Frustrated, she went to put it back into her clutch when the phone started to vibrate, indicating she had a call. She blinked at the display in surprise as she saw the caller was none other than Clint Barton, the man who was supposedly in the elevator with her.

She tried not to visibly tense – maybe Natasha was calling her on Clint’s phone, and there was nothing to worry about.

“Hello?” she answered, hoping she sounded normal.

“Hey, Darce – where are you? You’re late to your own party!” Clint said.

The noise from the party was so loud, she could barely hear him; hopefully the person in the elevator with her wouldn’t be able to, either.

“I’m in the elevator – I’ll be there in a couple minutes, okay?” she said.

“Yeah – hey! Give me that back!” Clint said before another voice came on the phone.

“Darcy, get your ass up here! We started without you,” Tony Stark shouted.

“I’m almost there,” she said before hanging up.

The elevator suddenly jerked to a stop, and she cried out in pain as her bad shoulder slammed into the wall.

She righted herself, then watched as “Clint Barton” pressed the side of his head, then peeled off his face to reveal…Franz.

“Neat trick,” she said, “Natasha wore it better.”

“Darcy,” Franz said as he pulled a gun out of his jacket and pointed it at her.

Darcy couldn’t help but laugh; Franz, however, was not amused.

“This is no laughing matter, Darcy,” he said angrily.

“No, it really, really _is_ a laughing matter,” Darcy said when she could finally stop laughing long enough to speak, “You’re an _idiot_.”

“What, getting your ass kicked by Captain America once wasn’t enough? You _do_ realize that we are –“ she paused to look at the floor display – “fifteen floors away from a floor full of superheroes and a lot of very rich, very famous people? How did you get out of jail, anyway?”

She almost felt sorry for Franz as he struggled to decide which of her many questions he should answer first, or even if he should answer at all.

“Prison records can be faked,” he said, answering the last question, “Hydra is everywhere.”

He waved the gun around as he expounded, “We will go see your superheroes. I will threaten your life, and they will tell us where the Winter Soldier is. I will bring him home and make up for my earlier failures.”

Darcy smirked at him. “Got in trouble for that, huh?”

Franz _growled_ at her.

“Down, boy,” she said as she considered what she should do next. True, they were almost at the penthouse, but if she didn’t warn the Avengers, there was a chance Franz would be able to get off the elevator and hurt one or more innocent bystanders before they could stop him.

She smiled, remembering that Tony had told her a secret phrase that would alert Jarvis they were in trouble, allowing him to notify the nearest Avenger and activate his emergency protocols.

“You forgot one thing,” she said, “You forgot about Jarvis. Jarvis will save me if I’m in danger.”

Franz looked confused.

“Who is – “ he began, but was interrupted as the elevator suddenly began to move again, rapidly gaining speed. Startled, he frantically pounded the Emergency Stop button.

Darcy took advantage of his distraction to remove her shoe, repeatedly jamming the heel into any part of him she could reach using her uninjured arm. She silently thanked Natasha, who had advised her that footwear should be fashionable _and_ functional.

Franz howled in pain and raised the gun, apparently forgetting his plan to take her hostage.

Three things happened at once – Franz went to pull the trigger, Darcy moved to bring the heel of her shoe into his eye, and the elevator slammed to a halt, the doors opening. Franz never stood a chance – before the doors had even finished opening, Thor had busted through and grabbed him, throwing him out of the elevator and into the room.

Franz landed with a thud. He was stunned momentarily, but he quickly recovered, scrambling for the gun that had flown out of his hand when Thor grabbed him.

One sharp kick from Natasha and he fell back to the floor, unconscious.

“Well, that was exciting,” Tony drawled.

Darcy, whose head was spinning, leaned against the elevator door to see all of the Avengers standing in a loose circle around Franz while the rest of the party-goers stared on in awe. When they saw Franz wasn’t going to get up again, hands began to clap and the crowd cheered.

Tony preened; Steve glowered; Clint was struggling not to laugh; Natasha rolled her eyes; Bruce looked like he was desperately trying to find his happy place.

Thor ignored everything around him, looking Darcy over as he reached out a hand to steady her.

“Lady Darcy, are you injured?” he said.

“Just another day at the office,” Darcy said glibly as she took his proffered hand and stepped out of the elevator.

“Although...I could use another pair of shoes,” she said, looking woefully at the shoe in her hand. It was undamaged, but she wasn’t exactly thrilled at the prospect of putting it back on.

“That can be arranged,” Natasha said as Thor stood there, looking perplexed.

“I’ll take out the trash,” Clint said, hooking his hands underneath Franz’s arms and carrying him into the elevator fireman style. When Franz began to stir, Clint’s hand slipped, and Franz’s head hit the elevator door, sending him back into unconsciousness.

“Oops,” Clint said, his eyes wide with innocence, “My hands were sweaty.”

“Wait.” Darcy said as he went to close the door.

“Thank you. All of you…including you, Jarvis,” she said, looking at each Avenger and then at the ceiling (which she figured was appropriate).

“You’re welcome, Miss Lewis,” Jarvis said as the elevator doors closed.

“Like you said, just another day at the office,” Tony said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and turned her towards the bar.

At his signal, the music began to play, and everyone started to party again as if nothing had happened.

“Now let’s get you out of these shoes and get you a drink,” Tony said, waiting for her to remove her other shoe.

A waiter came up and took the shoes and Tony led her to the bar, the rest of the Avengers in tow.

“Let’s find you a real knockout,” Tony said.

“That pun was bad even for you,” Darcy groaned.

Tony grinned unrepentantly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy receives a visit from a concerned friend.

Ten minutes later, Darcy was feeling slightly – okay, more than slightly – tipsy, having indulged in a glass of Tony’s finest scotch. She leaned against the bar, content for now to just watch the party.

It was cute, almost, how the Avengers were keeping an eye on her while desperately trying (and failing) to look like they weren’t. Tony and Pepper, as well as Bruce and Betty, were off dancing, but frequently positioned themselves to where they could see her; Thor and Jane were sitting at a table overlooking the city, conveniently not far from where she stood.  She couldn’t see Steve or Natasha, but she would bet good money that they were around somewhere, keeping an eye on her from a distance.

Realizing her glass was empty, she turned and put it on the bar, waving away the bartender when he went to pour her another. She was tapping her foot to the music and contemplating finding a dance partner when she sensed someone standing behind her.

“Bucky,” she breathed, not needing to look into the mirror above the bar to know who it was.

She turned slowly, afraid that he was a figment of her over-active imagination that had been summoned by the stress of the evening’s events, or even the glass of scotch she had imbibed. She (internally) sighed in relief when she realized it really was Bucky Barnes standing behind her. His long, dark hair just touched the shoulders of a leather jacket worn over a t-shirt and jeans, clothes which she never would have thought he would be wearing months ago.

She began to smile, but paused and shifted uneasily when she saw the dark look on his face. What the hell was going on with him? She would have thought that after months of not seeing each other he would be as happy to see her as she was to see him, but instead, he almost seemed to be _angry_ with her.

He met her gaze, then tilted his head towards the balcony before turning and heading in that direction, clearly expecting her to follow.

Darcy stayed where she was. She wasn't sure why Bucky just assumed she was going to follow him outside without even saying a single word to her first, but she was not going to play the mouse to the Winter Soldier’s cat tonight. She turned and picked up the refill the bartender had somehow sensed she needed, taking a large sip of scotch to both bolster her courage and calm her nerves.

A few minutes later, she heard his slightly rough voice say, “Darcy.”

“Yes?” she said sweetly, facing him.

“Will you please come outside with me?” he asked, looking irritated…but at the same time, she could see a strangely vulnerable look deep in his eyes.

It was that hint of vulnerability that prompted her to give in, putting her glass back on the bar before heading to the balcony, Bucky following behind her.

She passed by Thor and Jane, who had just been joined by Steve and Sam. She realized that Steve must have gone to tell Sam and Bucky what had happened and brought them both back to the party so they could see she was okay. Sam looked at her curiously, and she gave him a reassuring smile to let him know everything was okay. 

Once Bucky joined her on the balcony they stood facing each other in the near darkness, the space barely illuminated by the lights from the party. Neither one of them seemed eager to speak first, and the silence was just starting to get uncomfortable when a blast of cold air hit them, causing Darcy to gasp and rub her arms as she tried to get warm.

Bucky immediately took off his jacket and stepped closer to drape it around her shoulders. She felt a hint of warmth creep up her spine that had nothing to do with the alcohol in her veins as his hands lingered.

“Are you alright?” he asked, his eyes searching her face.

“I’m fine,” Darcy said, “Really, I am. I was more amused than anything else – I still can’t believe he actually thought that plan would work.”

The tension seemed to leak out of Bucky’s body, and he seemed less severe. He dropped his arms from her shoulders and moved past her to grip the railing, staring out over the city.

“What just happened in there? Why did you seem so angry with me?” Darcy asked, turning to face him as she put her arms into the sleeves of his jacket, which was almost comically huge on her.

“Steve told me what happened. I came to see for myself...if something happened to you again because of me…” Bucky said softly, so softly she had to move closer to hear him.

“Is that why you have stayed away the last few months, you were afraid that something would happen to me if you came back into my life?” she asked incredulously.

“Partially…I’ve also been working with Steve and Sam to restore my memory and learn how to control my PTSD. I meant every word of what I said to you before, but…” he said, gripping the railing harder, “…I’m a broken man, Darcy. You deserve better.”

“I only remember bits and pieces of my life…and with the exception of my memories during the war, with Steve, they don’t paint a picture of a good man.”

He turned to face her before continuing, “I can’t sleep at night because I have nightmares of blood and death. I get so _angry_ , and when I get angry, I just want to lash out like a cornered animal, verbally and physically – Steve is my sparring partner, and he has the bruises to prove it.”

He fell silent, tense again, as if he expected her to reject him, to run away.

“James, look at me,” Darcy implored, putting her hand on his arm to get his attention.

When he finally looked at her, she continued, “You will get better with time. Until a few months ago, you were just a tool, brought out when needed and put away – no one ever showed you any affection…no one cared.”

“Now you’re surrounded by people who care about you as a person, who care about what happens to you instead of what you can do for them. I can only imagine how that must feel, to go from nothing to everything….it will be okay, we will all help you get through this. _I_ will help you get through this.”

“Even if you were right,” he said, putting his hand over hers and holding it there, “I’m not ready for a relationship right now…and I’m not sure when I will be. I don’t want you to waste your time waiting for something that may never happen.”

“Some things are worth waiting for,” Darcy said. She gently pulled her hand away, then wrapped her arms around him.

He hesitated, stiff at first, before he sighed and wrapped his arms around her in return, resting his head on top of hers. After a minute or so, Darcy pulled back far enough to see his face and asked, “How about we just be friends for now, and see where it goes?”

“Alright…I’ll try. Despite what Steve says, while I remember _being_ a good friend, I’m currently not sure _how_ to be a good friend.”

“That’s good enough for me,” she said as he let her go, “You have to stop worrying about me so much, though…I’ve been working on learning self-defense. If I get into real trouble, the kind I can’t get out of on my own, then, and _only_ then, can you worry.”

“I can’t say yes to that,” he said, disconcerted, “but I’ll try.”

“That’s fair,” she said, smiling.

She could tell he was starting to get antsy, so she said, “How about we get out of here – if you’re allowed to leave?”

“I’m free to come and go as I please,” he responded, “Although Mother gets worried if I’m gone too long, he thinks I ran away.”

Darcy laughed when he looked pointedly at Steve.

“How about getting something to eat? There’s a 24-hour diner around the corner,” she asked.

“How about Italian?” he countered, “I vaguely remember a place in Brooklyn.”

“I know just the place,” she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him through the room towards the elevator.

Tony Stark saw them and gave Darcy a thumbs-up. She rolled her eyes and mouthed “We’re just friends”, glaring at him when he winked.

They were half-way to the elevator when Bucky stopped her, looking down at her feet.

“You’re not wearing any shoes,” he said.

“Yeah, I kind of, sort of, used them to beat up Franz,” she replied.

He chuckled, and Darcy went to move away, back towards the elevator. She squeaked when she felt herself being lifted and held bridal-style.

“Bucky! Put me down, I can walk!” she protested, her face flaming.

“Everyone’s staring at us,” she groaned when he ignored her.

“Let them,” he said, “I wouldn’t be much of a man if I let you walk on these floors barefoot.”

Luckily, they didn’t have far to go. He nodded at Natasha, who was standing by the elevator, one hand behind her back and an entirely too innocent look on her face. She pressed the elevator button without looking, and the doors slide open. Bucky carried Darcy into the elevator, and before the doors closed, Natasha stepped forward and dropped something into Darcy’s lap….

….a new pair of shoes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Italian restaurant that Bucky is talking about is, indeed, the restaurant that Steve took her to in "Finding You". I like to think it was a place that Steve and Bucky went to together when they were growing up. 
> 
> I hope this chapter seems on point - I must have rewritten it at least ten times. I figured it wasn't very realistic to have them jump into a relationship right away when he was still going through a lot of things, so they would just be friends at first. He needs to figure out who he is and be comfortable with himself before he can get romantically involved with someone else, in my opinion. I will tie up everything in the next chapter, which will probably have a time jump (but not a large one, this isn't Desperate Housewives).
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr as hquinzelle. One warning, though, I am obsessed with Lee Pace/Thranduil right now, so I don't post as much Marvel right now, but Age of Ultron will be out soon, so....


	3. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After having a rough day, Bucky meets Darcy for "Date Night" two years to the day after her fateful visit to the Smithsonian.

Bucky Barnes and Darcy Lewis had their first date at the Coney Island boardwalk ten months after Tony Stark’s party. The first date led to a second date, and so on and so forth, until they were officially a couple; Darcy even officially designated Friday night as “date night”, and created a standing 8 PM reservation for two at their favorite Italian restaurant in Brooklyn.

On the Friday that marked exactly two years since Darcy’s fateful visit to the Smithsonian, she arrived early to the restaurant. It was an anniversary of sorts, and she was determined to get the best table, in the back where the lighting was low enough to set the mood for a romantic dinner.

She entertained herself for a while after she was seated, creating animals out of napkins (a skill she had gained during a brief stint as a server at a fancy restaurant) and eating an unhealthy amount of breadsticks. When she had used all of the napkins from her table and was down to her last breadstick, she looked up and realized the restaurant was almost full, and enough time had gone by that it was dark outside.

She glanced at her watch – it was 8:30, and Bucky was officially late. She thought about calling him, but decided to give him a few more minutes. He would have called if he wasn’t going to make it, and she hadn’t heard of any disasters on the news earlier, so he was probably just stuck in traffic.

She began to nibble on the last breadstick and after a short internal monologue- she almost felt guilty for eating all of them, but if he wanted breadsticks he should have shown up earlier, he knew how grumpy she got when she was hungry, and besides, they could always get more – she thought about how the progress that Bucky had made in two years.

He was starting to remember more, and had begun to write his memories down so he could piece things together. He was nowhere near whole – his bad days when he pushed himself too hard or got too angry still outnumbered his good days – but he had less PTSD incidents, and he was starting to feel more comfortable with himself and with other people.

Darcy jumped and squeaked in alarm (not that she would ever admit to making such a noise) as Bucky came up next to her and said “Hey doll, sorry I’m late.”

He chuckled, then leaned over to give her a quick kiss before sitting down.

“No problem,” Darcy said, acting like nothing had happened, “I was just thinking about you.”

He didn’t respond, instead picking up his menu and pretending to be absorbed in it, even though he always ordered the same thing.

Darcy frowned as she tried to figure out his current mood. On the surface he appeared to be fine – more than fine actually, his leather jacket, t-shirt and jeans fitting him in all the right places…She was momentarily distracted by thoughts that weren’t appropriate for a child-friendly restaurant, but then she shook her head and (internally) said, “Bad Darcy! Focus!”

She reached out and tugged on the menu, trying to pull it down so she could see his face. He resisted at first, but when the paper started to tear, he finally relented and put the menu down on the table.

She narrowed her eyes as she tried to see his face in the dim light, but he just settled further back into the shadows. Determined, she picked up the candle on the table and leaned forward so he couldn’t evade her. He winced as the light hit him, highlighting his swollen and bruised eye, the bruises on his cheek, and the cut on the corner of his mouth.

She gasped. “Start talking, Barnes. What happened?”

He sighed and motioned for her to lower the candle, which she did as she sat down in her chair and waited.

“It hasn’t been a good day…everything started out fine, but this afternoon, Steve asked me to get him something out of the freezer when we were in the kitchen.” he explained.

Darcy winced, already able to see where this was going. Each apartment in Avengers Tower had its own kitchen, but there was also an industrial kitchen where the entire team took turns cooking. The industrial kitchen was equipped with all of the latest gadgets and amenities…including a large walk-in freezer.

“I thought I could handle it, even though it made me think of the cryofreeze – but I was careless, and the door closed behind me. All I had to do was open the door again, but instead I blacked out. When I woke up, I was outside of the freezer, and part of the kitchen was destroyed.”

“You would have loved it,” he said sardonically, “Apparently, Steve found a taser in one of the kitchen drawers and used that to take me down.”

“I was wondering where that went,” she said, tapping her finger on her chin and looking towards the ceiling.

Bucky chuckled, and she smiled briefly at him before turning serious again.

“All joking aside, are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he said, pausing as the waiter came and took their order.

“I was really angry, but Steve met me in the boxing ring after I recovered and helped me get rid of the aggression. That’s where most of this is from,” he continued after the waiter left, gesturing to his face.

“Good,” Darcy said before entertaining him with tales of her days and the mishaps of the Avengers - the rivalry between Tony Stark and Rhodey, in particular, never failed to amuse him.

He started to relax as she went on, and before they were done eating, he was smiling, and had even laughed once or twice.

She breathed an internal sigh of relief as she saw that her stories were having the intended effect of helping him forget the events of the day. She never tried to psychoanalyze or fix Bucky’s problems, he had plenty of other people to help him with that – she just listened, then tried to make him forget for at least a little while.

Later, after they had left the restaurant and were walking in the general direction of Avengers Tower, he stopped underneath one of the street lamps and pulled her into his arms.

“Thank you,” he said, resting his chin on the top of her head as she wrapped her arms around him and returned the embrace.

“No problem – that’s what I’m here for,” Darcy replied, her voice slightly muffled by his jacket. She knew he could be thanking her for a number of things, but she felt that way about everything, so specifics didn’t really matter.

He pulled back slightly so he could see her face before continuing, “I mean it. When I’m with you, I almost feel normal. You help me forget, make things not so bad.”

Darcy stared up at him for a second before standing up on her toes and pulling his head down for a kiss.

It wasn’t the first time he had said this; shortly after they started dating, his nightmares had started to get better, he had them less often and they were less violent.

When she had mentioned the changes to him one morning after he had slept through an entire night nightmare-free, he had held her tight and told her that was because she gave him a sense of normalcy, and made him feel whole, even in the short time they’d been together.

When he was with her, he said, he felt complete.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had most of this written for months now, but I lost my writing mojo, and just couldn't finish it. I guess watching the new Civil War trailer put me in a Bucky frame of mind....
> 
> I want to thank all of the people who have read, commented, and left kudos on this story - without all of you, I wouldn't have found the courage to write beyond the first chapter of Watching for You.


End file.
